We have seen in a recent study that advertising placed on boarding passes during a journey is viewed most inside the plane cabin . The Global Passenger Survey also establishes that passengers mostly plan their next trip whilst travelling, with up to 66% planning during the journey, as opposed to when they have returned home (58%). For inflight magazines this is very relevant, but what is more important to know is that these plans are largely made on the return flight, with 43% of those planning their next trip inflight.



GPS shows that in the course of their whole journey most passengers are thinking about their next trip at the arrival destination. This is important for inflight magazines, as passengers will have already been exposed to destination features in the magazine on their outbound journey, with 95% of readers actively looking for tourism content in the magazine. Having been stimulated by ideas in the magazine, passengers would seem to be considering their next steps when arriving at their destination of choice.

Having experienced the excitement and relaxation of their trip, passengers are now in the mood to decide on a next trip, and the inflight magazine available on their return flight is perfectly placed to capture this mood, with the mental alertness promoted by the journey experience enhancing message-engagement and a matching aspirational mind-set.

At this stage an additional 29% will plan an upcoming trip on the return flight, with inspirational ideas and advertising from the magazine, as overall 31% of passengers source their ideas from the inflight magazine. This is perhaps the most important “media moment” as these holiday and hotel ideas seen in the magazine will be fresh in their mind and close to the purchasing moment, either on return to home, or even using inflight connectivity, as a similar 32% of passengers make a written note or take pictures of adverts seen in the magazine.

This “planning cycle”, from outbound suggestion, holiday experience and return inspiration matches the effectiveness of the inflight magazine and the powerful environment of the inflight experience.